The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

There was a beast called Fenrir.

It was a giant wolf monster that appears in Norse mythology.

Born as a child of a god and a giant, it grew up as an ordinary wolf.

However, it was said that it would bring disaster to the gods, so it was bound by a magical rope.

This restraint was so strong that it continued to bind his body for a long time until he would be released in the great battle.

The name of that magical rope was "Gleipnir."

□ □ □ □ □

"'Lore Manifestation—Gleipnir'!"

What I summoned was a single rope.

There was no blade to harm the enemy, nor a shield to protect from their attacks.

Just a single rope.

"How clever! What can you do with just one spell—"

As Marcosias mocked and tried to activate magic to blow me away along with the rope, he realized his body couldn't move an inch.

The rope had somehow wrapped itself around Marcosias's entire body.

Not just Marcosias. It was also around the bodies of all his subordinates.

Despite being just one rope, it showed no signs of breaking no matter how much strength Marcosias put into it.

"What is this...!?"

"It's a legendary tool created to bind the wolf called calamity. That calamity wolf seems to be called the Wolf King—Fenrir—in this world too."

"Grrr, nnng!"

A restraint that can't be escaped no matter how much he struggles.

It was created to bind Marcosias's superior species. Naturally, there's no way Marcosias could do anything about it.

"You can't break free. This rope is the lore itself. It's a wolf-specific conceptual armament created for the purpose of binding wolves—that's Gleipnir."

There's no way a wolf could break this.

The manifested "wolf-binding rope" is the logic of the gods—the concept itself.

Conversely, it's completely useless against anything other than wolves. If there had been any of Marcosias's subordinates here that weren't wolves, I might have been in danger.

"...But do you think you can defeat me just by binding me? You're just an insect skilled in one trick. Before the strong, buying time is the best you can do. And this technique can't be maintained forever, can it?"

"Ah, that's right."

The Gleipnir binding Marcosias was already starting to fade, dispersing spirit elements.

But the lore for dealing with wolves isn't just this.

Rather, the next one is the main event.

"'Lore Manifestation—Well'!"

It was a hole.

A dark, bottomless hole that appeared beneath the feet of Marcosias and all the wolves.

Just that.

"Kuhaha, did you think you could destroy us with a mere pitfall!"

"...Marcosias. Do you know how many people there are on this continent?"

Surprised by my sudden change of topic, Marcosias hesitated for a moment—and then noticed something off about the hole.

A merciless chill, as if Death's scythe was being held to his neck, made Marcosias's fur stand on end.

"What is this...!?"

"You probably don't know exactly, but according to estimates from the Kingdom of Mataisa, it's assumed to be just over 50 million. In the major countries of this continent, about 3 million live in the Kingdom of Mataisa, and about 5 million each in the Magu Empire and the Dragon Duchy of Bargia. Even including the other continent and smaller countries, it seems the total doesn't reach 60 million—at least 50 million people."

"Insect! I asked what this hole is!"

"My 'Lore Manifestation' is a power that calls forth and uses memories stored in the World Tree. Those World Tree memories—the stronger the collective consciousness, the stronger the concept becomes."

In contrast, the population of Earth is about 7 billion.

That's 7 billion people just currently living.

It easily exceeds a hundred times that of this world.

"Gleipnir that binds you is from one famous myth. But there's a wolf story that's overwhelmingly more well-known than that myth."

The Gleipnir binding Marcosias was already almost gone.

"In that story, at the end, the wolf falls into a spring or well and dies. Do you understand? Wolves are meant to fall and die."

I lift up the fallen Elenora and support her from behind.

She fixed her gaze firmly on her nemesis before her.

What I summoned was a story that kills wolves.

A story of wolves known by far more people than the legend of Fenrir. A mother-and-child fairy tale that has been read in countries all over the world since ancient times and is still loved today. For [Ideation Method], where "fame" directly translates to strength, wolf-killing manifests as the strongest possible concept.

The story is the famous Grimm's fairy tale.

"'The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats.' That's the story that will kill you."

Gleipnir disappears.

At that moment, all the wolves are sucked into the abyss.

The conceptual hole that kills wolves will never let them escape.

"Nooo! But I have wings!"

Marcosias flapped his wings, trying to escape from the giant abyss.

It's futile.

In "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats," the mother goat filled the wolf's belly with stones to ensure it would fall and never climb out.

So as long as you're a wolf, you can never escape from there.

Still, Marcosias desperately tried to lift his heavy body, struggling to get out of the hole.

"Elenora, a stone."

"Mm."

Prompted by me, Elenora picked up a stone from the riverbank at her feet.

It may not go exactly like the story where the surviving young goat successfully saved its siblings.

...But at least the vengeance for her family should be by the lamb's hand.

"Ruruk, thank you."

The stone Elenora threw traced a slow arc and hit Marcosias.

As if all his strength had left him from that single small stone, Marcosias plummeted straight down.

"Impossible! Impossibleeeeee!"

His death throes faded into the darkness.

After all the monsters were sucked into the hole, the darkness that had fulfilled its role disappeared without a trace.

And so, the wolves were swallowed by the abyss, and that was the end of that.